Dems Urge Supercommittee To Balance Cuts With Revenue Increases

By Lisa Kellman

Top Democrats in the House Thursday reiterated their desire to see the Congressional Supercommittee balance spending cuts with revenue increases.

“We need to have everyone pay their fair share,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during a press conference.

The request comes one day before the chairmen of each House and Senate committee issue their official recommendations for the Super Committee. However, citing Republican chairmen’s reluctance to listen to the minority’s ideas, Democrats’ sent the individual recommendations from each of their ranking members to the committee.

As part of increasing revenue, Congressional Democrats urged the 12 member body to focus on job creation, noting that more people working will bring in additional funds.

“Job creation equals deficit reduction,” Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, asserted.

The Supercommittee is tasked with finding $1.5 trillion in savings over the next decade by Thanksgiving. If they fail to produce a plan that passes through Congress, then $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts will be made automatically.